Disclaimer: I don't have rights to Harry Potter or Bon Jovi
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Chapter 35: Dyin' aint much of a Livin'
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Sirius turned to Graham as dust kicked up into the air, his matted hair flying in his face as he spun. "GET HER OUT OF HERE!" he shouted to the Auror before climbing over the rubble to where he'd last seen Draco.
Hermione looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in realisation. "No!" she stated firmly, trying to get out of Graham's grip. "Let me go!"
"We have to get out of here," Graham reasoned, trying to pull Hermione in the direction of the door.
A deep rumbling could be heard from above and Graham's Auror instincts kicked in. He pulled Hermione's wand from her hand as he wound his arms around her waist, physically lifting her from the floor as it shook beneath their feet.
"NO! SIRIUS!" Hermione screamed as she fought against Graham. Her head was pounding and her entire body ached, but she was not leaving without her family.
Sirius tried to ignore Hermione's cries as he began moving rocks with his bare hands, magic forgotten as he desperately tried to reach his daughter.
"LET GO OF ME!"
Hermione's cries began to be drowned by the noise above as his hands began to bleed, fingernails and palms scraping on the rough material in front of him. As determined a woman as she was, Hermione was injured and was no use against a trained Auror.
"SIRIUS!"
Sirius noted the pairs struggled exit as he felt a piece of rubble move against his leg. Moving down slightly, he quickened his pace.
"Draco?" he called.
"Get this lot off me," the young wizard responded from below.
Clutching his wand, Sirius muttered a levitation charm and moved the pile of rubble off Draco. The wizard was curled in a ball, his body encompassing the small one year old in his arms. Moving quickly Sirius bent down to help Draco up.
"She's okay," the blond said, answering the question forming on Sirius' lips.
Sirius took a sobbing Elizabeth from Draco's arms as the floor shifted violently beneath them once more.
"Lets get moving," Sirius suggested, already making his way down the pile of rubble. Pausing, he turned and eyed the dusty wizard behind him. A line of blood was moving down the side of his face from his hairline and he swayed slightly on the spot.
"My leg's broken," Draco stated, wincing as he moved slightly.
"Ok," Sirius reasoned before moving to Draco and handing Elizabeth back. He stepped forward to support the wizard who'd saved his daughters life. "We're going to have to move fast."
Draco nodded as Sirius helped him to flat ground. Sirius picked up the pace and Draco leant more weight on the older wizard as the pain in his leg grew.
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Graham's grip tightened on the struggling Hermione as the fortress shook around them. Cracks began to appear along the floors and walls as he retraced his steps as best he could towards the staircase that led the way out.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
The rumbling around them would have drowned Hermione's pleas had she not been so close to his ear. Nails dug into his arms and booted heels hit his shins as Hermione tried to move desperately in the direction they had just come.
A sudden shake of the floor beneath his feet loosened his grip on the witch as he tried to maintain balance for them both. Turning towards him, Hermione ignored the crashing around them and looking pleadingly at him. "Let me go," she murmured, her voice only just reaching his ears. "They're my life. I can't leave them."
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Fred had long since hoisted Harry over his shoulders and opted to carry him rather than drag him along the dusty corridors. Unsure as to what Harry had been subjected to, the Weasley twin was apprehensive about performing any magic on the boy-who-lived.
Side stepping falling pieces of ceiling, feet moving quickly to maintain a level of balance as the floors shook beneath him, Fred rounded a corner and sighted the staircase in front of him. Running unsteadily down the corridor, avoiding gaping holes in the floor and piles of debris, Fred made it to the banister. Glancing up he saw large pieces of ceiling give way and fall hundreds of feet to the floor below.
Shifting Harry slightly, Fred started to quickly make his way down the stairs, relying on blind luck not to be hit as deafening crashes sounded around him. After a few flights down, his luck ran out and a large slab landed meters away, sending Fred flying through the air with the resulting shockwave.
Landing heavily against a wall and feeling a sharp pain through his wand arm, Fred groaned as the dust settled around them. Cracking open his eyes, bright light surrounded him. Blinking, Fred realised he was leaning against a door frame and the light was coming from outside as the afternoon sun crept towards the horizon.
Shaking himself into action, Fred spotted Harry lying still a few meters away. Crawling over to his friend, Fred rolled him over and noted Harry's chest moving as he coughed dust from his lungs.
"It's ok Harry," Fred assured as he hoisted the young wizard back into his arms. "I've found the way out."
Moving quickly outside onto the grass of the surrounding mountain slope, Fred stepped down a number of rocky terraces till he felt comfortable with the distance between them and the fortress. Gently laying Harry against a bank, Fred tried to wake him.
"Harry?" he asked, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.
One of Harry's green eyes cracked open in response
"I'm going back to help the others. Will you be okay here?"
Harry closed his eyes and nodded.
"Right then," Fred said, standing and turning back to look up at the doorway they had recently exited. Dust was billowing out like smoke and crashes could be heard echoing down the valley. "See you soon," he said to Harry, and with a grim look of determination set back up the slope towards the mountain.
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Glancing back down the corridor as the fortress shook around them, Graham spotted Sirius round the far corner, struggling with Draco.
Hermione, following his gaze, broke free of the Aurors slacked hold, grabbed her wand and took off in the direction of her husband.
"Hermione wait!" she heard Graham call out behind her.
Sirius' gaze shot up as he heard Grahams voice. Hermione was running towards them, round piles of rock, her arms up over her head to protect herself as the ceiling began to cave. The wall to the right of them started to disintegrate under the impounding weight from above.
"GO BACK!" Sirius shouted over the roar surrounding them. But his wife was stubborn and reached them moments later, taking Elizabeth from Draco's arms.
"RUN" Sirius shouted over the noise as Graham caught them and moved to the other side of Draco, ducking his head under the blond's arm and taking the rest of his weight. Hermione spun, cradling her daughter in her arms, and began to move quickly down the long hall.
"YOU KEEP RUNNING AND DO NOT LOOK BACK!" Sirius ordered his wife, his words muffled even to his own ears. The only response he received that Hermione had heard them was her chocolate eyes turning to face him, holding his eyes momentarily before turning again and moving ahead of the wizards behind her.
Rounding the corner of the staircase, Fred spotted the group making their way down the hall. As Hermione reached him, he placed a hand on her back and urged her forward, leading the way down the stairs.
"WHERE'S HARRY?" Hermione shouted to the redhead
"OUTSIDE," he yelled back "COME ON, THIS IS THE WAY OUT."
Hermione resisted the urge to turn for Sirius as Fred led her to the tall doorway supporting the entrance. Rocks crashed around them and choking dust filled the air. Pulling Elizabeth closer to her chest, Hermione tried her best to protect her daughter from flying debris.
Behind them, Graham, Sirius, and Draco reached the landing and began to make their way down the stairs. Sirius felt magic fall around him and glanced at Graham.
"THE WARDS," he shouted through the dust.
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Hermione gulped in fresh air as Fred urge her forward, away from the falling fortress, away from Sirius. Moving to the left and throwing Fred off balance, Hermione spun and watched in horror as the carved doorway collapsed and rubble piled out onto the mountainside, dust billowing like smoke into the blood red evening sky.
Hermione heard a guttural scream and realised it was her own voice producing the sound. She moved back towards the entrance, but Fred held her back.
"You cant!" Fred said, voice raised over Hermione's screams as she struggled against him.
"NOOOOOO! He's still alive! Let me GO!"
"Think of Elizabeth!" Fred reasoned, drawing Hermione's attention to the girl in her arms
Hermione's screams turned to a low moan as her legs turned to jelly and folded beneath her. Fred lowered her and Elizabeth gently to the ground as he heard two soft pops behind him. Her face held no colour as she held her daughter close to her chest. Hermione clutched at Fred's robes, her hands desperately seeking support as her mouth formed silent pleas, her voice catching as she stared numbly at the collapsed entrance.
He barely registered footsteps passing behind him before Sirius knelt down on the other side of Hermione.
"Hermione, love" Sirius murmured, taking his wife and daughter into his arms as Fred let go and stood. "It's alright, we're okay"
Hermione looked up, skin pale and eyes red with tear tracks through the layer of dust on her cheeks as she met Sirius' grey, reassuring eyes. Sobbing, Hermione wrapped an arm around Sirius' neck and pulled him close, breathing in his musky scent as she held on tight. Sirius wrapped his arms around his family and rocked Hermione to calm her down, gently laying a bloodied hand on his daughter's head between them.
Fred took a deep shaking breath, shocked at the tears streaming down his own face. Turning, he saw Graham lower Draco down beside Harry. Immediately the pair began to quietly banter with each other.
"You look like hell," Draco muttered as Graham conjured a splint for his leg
The corner of Harry's mouth lifted in an attempt to smile as he glanced to the wizard at his right. "If I had my wand, I'd conjure you a mirror."
Draco glanced down at his own wand, snapped in two and hanging by a fibre. Passing it to Harry who'd closed his eyes, Draco put it in his friends hand. "You can have mine," he muttered before leaning back against the bank and closing his eyes.
"Elizabeth?" Harry asked quietly.
"I got her," Draco murmured. "She's okay."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Graham smiled at the two before turning to Fred, "Can you sort out a portkey to get these two back to the hospital wing?" When Fred nodded, Graham turned to the still form of Snape he'd noticed down slope next to a watchtower. "I'm going to go sort out Professor Snape, my team can deal with it well enough."
Fred nodded again and bearing the pain in his wand arm, set to work on a portkey.
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Tonks felt her eyes lose focus as she fought sleep. She'd barely rested since Remus was brought in and was at a loose end as to what to do for her fiancé. Bill was resting comfortable in the bed next to the Lycan, broken leg elevated and healing throughout the night.
A shrill, sudden noise around her made Tonk's violet eyes fly open as the Auror stood in panic. Madame Pomfry and Ginny ran into the room and straight to Remus as he began to convulse on the bed.
"His vitals are failing!" Madame Pomfry announced, moving quickly with her wand to try and assist the wizard on the bed, Ginny beside her wand out and working with the medi-witch.
Tonks stepped back feeling helpless. Her eyes quickly filled with tears and her hands covered her mouth. She felt her knees hit the bed behind her as her legs gave way, unable to tear her eyes from Remus as he shook in front of her.
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A while later, when the stars were out and the crescent moon offered a slither of light, Sirius led an exhausted Hermione and a sleeping Elizabeth down to the others. Graham was making his way back up the slope and met them as Fred finished with the portkey.
"It's enough to get Harry and Draco, plus another to the hospital wing," Fred said, looking down at the branch in his hands.
"Alright," Sirius said quietly, "you take Draco and Harry, we'll apparate to the edge of the grounds."
Hermione lifted her head from Sirius shoulder and looked him up and down. His robes were torn, the left side of his face was bruised, and cuts and scrapes littered his skin. His knuckles were raw and blood dripped from his hands.
Sirius caught her look and shook his head. "We need at least one able-bodied person with them. I'll be fine." He glanced at Fred who nodded. "Alright then," Sirius murmured, "let's go home"
Gently moving Hermione to stand close to Fred, Sirius stepped over to Harry. Crouching between him and Draco, he gently shook his Godson, "Harry mate, we have a portkey. It's going to be jarring, but it will take you straight to the hospital wing."
Harry's good eye cracked open and he nodded.
Sirius turned and repeated his actions to the blond resting next to Harry. "Draco?" he asked, placing an hand on the young wizards arm and shaking gently.